NHL Predictions – Sunday, November 24:
Just one game on the NHL schedule today in advance of 11 games on Monday and 15 games on Wednesday before NHL players get Thursday off to enjoy some turkey and football. There was off-ice news on Sunday as the St. Louis Blues fired head coach Drew Bannister and hired Jim Montgomery, who had been fired six days ago by the Boston Bruins. Montgomery returns to St. Louis, where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. Here is today’s NHL prediction.
Utah HC at Toronto Maple Leafs (-185; 6.5)
7:00 p.m. ET
The Utah HC visit Scotiabank Arena in Toronto fresh off a 6-1-win Saturday night over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and was just their second win in the past six games. Look for Jaxson Stauber to get the start in goal tonight for the Utah HC. Stauber was recently recalled due to an injury to backup Connor Ingram. He was 5-2-0, with a 2.29 GAA and a .930 save percentage with Utah’s AHL team in Tucson. He is the son of former Kings and Sabres goalie Robb Stauber. Stauber’s NHL experience is limited to six games in the 2022-23 season with the Chicago Blackhawks (5-1-0, 2.81GAA, .911 save percentage).
The Maple Leafs have been able to take care of business without their Captain and last season’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner (most goals), Auston Matthews, going 6-1 in his absence. Not only are the Leafs without their captain, but they are missing five other regulars, including Max Pacioretty and Matthew Knies. In their absence, Mitch Marner has stepped up. Marner has four goals and 12 points in the past seven games and six of the seven have been multi-point games. William Nylander leads Toronto with 13 goals and has four goals and five assists with Matthews out of the lineup.
There are good arguments to be made for playing either side. Here is the case for playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. Utah HC is playing their third game in four days, starting their number three goalie on the depth chart and have not won back-to-back games since starting the season 3-0.
My concern about playing the Leafs today is this sets up as a “trap” game. The Leafs are coming off wins over Washington, Edmonton and Vegas on Wednesday. After today’s game versus Utah, it’s the defending Cup Champs, the Florida Panthers, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning. I would lean Utah HC or no play. Here are a couple of props that I believe are worth some “pizza money” bets.
NHL Predictions: Mitch Marner over 1.5 points (+126) – ¼ unit
John Tavares anytime goal (+155) – ¼ unit
Mikhail Sergachev anytime goal (+475) – ¼ unit
Logan Cooley anytime goal (+295) – ¼ unit
